#but i’d like to see her /actually/ parent simon more and handle the fallout with sara

[hillerskaroyals]

i wanna see linda’s reaction to wilmon bc we know where kristina stands but we don’t know how linda feels post denial

will she blame wille for simon not pressing charges? will she forgive him for leaving simon to fend for himself? is she going to be disappointed in simon for going back to wille when marcus was a safe choice? is she ever gonna find out about the drugs? stay tuned to find out ig

[wingsofwriting]

So I read Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda after seeing Love, Simon

Warning: Spoilers but not super major ones (I’m not gonna reveal who Blue is directly, but I may imply it in ways that make it obvious). And I’m definitely talking bout some important plot points in detail. So you’ve been warned.

What follows below is most my rambling on why I love both the book and the movie. Even though they are quite different in some ways. And some rambling about why i think certain changes were made.

I feel like the book and the movie both set out with different purposes, and as such, they told similar but different stories. They both have their strengths and their weaknesses, and it’s okay cuz both of them are clever, delightful, insightful and heartfelt. Also, I love that there were several important moments that the movie was utterly faithful to. I love when I find book to movie translations that have lifted dialogue wholesale. It makes for better movies.

The movie set out to be exactly what it’s becoming. The first positive gay love story from a major media outlet. It set out out to be a feel good film but still an emotionally heartfelt love story. A movie that’s a little about coming out. A little about being a teenager. A lot about growing up. And a lot about being the movie that it’s about goddamn time we had.

The book sets out with a simpler purpose. It has less to prove. Beautiful, heartfelt, happy gay love stories have existed with decent popularity in YA fiction for awhile now. It’s a good book and important still in some of the themes it tackles (ones the movies still tackles), but it’s not necessarily as groundbreaking. It’s important, and I don’t mean to trivialize it, but it’s also in this regard not the very first of its kind.

There’s things I like in both better than in the other one. And this is all personal preference, but I kinda want to talk about those, and I think it comes back to what places in the book and movie have in the cultural and social context that makes them have to tackle the narrative slightly different.

First, things I think the movie did better.

The quest for Blue in the movie was more enjoyable for me than in the book. I liked Simon seeing Blue in everyone he met rather than being mostly certain for a good portion of the narrative that it was one person (and being wrong in that). And I think this fed a little bit into the movie really pushing forward that idea of ‘why should straight be the default.’ The book certainly touches on this, but the movie works to really drive this point home. So Simon seeing the potential for all these boys to not be straight works to forward that. Because for LGBT people that’s how we perceive the world.

Though this is not to say there’s not value in the way the narrative is told in the novel. The novel in many ways feels more how something like this would actually go. Because it’s very clearly that Simon has a crush on this one kid, so clearly he’d hope for him to be Blue. That makes sense. But I think the movie grants more way to the potential that any one could be gay. So anyone could be Blue. And I found that more enjoyable and impactful.

Simon’s parents. Overall, I liked Simon’s parents more in the movie. And that awesome, awesome seen in the movie with Simon’s mom was a stroke of brilliance, and I’m legitimately sad it wasn’t in the book. I also find the plot of Simon coming home drunk better in the movie. Though I kinda wish I could combine how the movie did it and how the book did it. I think that’d be my ideal handling of that scene. There were still good moment’s with his parents in the book, but all those scenes still existed in the movie, and I think they handled them infinitely better in the movie.

It felt more like his parents got that their child coming out needed to be handled gingerly in the movie better. Which, with the movie having it’s point to make, it needed. It needed the parents to be awkward, but ultimately they had to be the leaders in acceptance, not Simon. The book could take some more freedom in that and so his parents could handle the whole situation slightly worse. Be a little less perfect. But the movie hit me where I live a bit stronger just because it’s amazing to see that model of how parents should handle their kid coming out.

Also the scene with Simon and his dad and apologizing for his jokes. It’s in both the book and movie (one of the scenes where dialogue was basically lifted wholesale). But in different spots in the narrative. In the movie, it feels like Simon’s dad realized his insensitivity on his own. While, in the book, Simon had to push him forward. Overall, it made the scene better in the movie. Because it implied self-growth from consideration, rather than from being confronted directly with the fact that he’d implicitly hurt his kid.

Simon’s friends, particularly Leah. I simply bought that they were friends better in the movie. In the book, they seemed to not really have anything in common with Simon. And just kinda be friends of convenience (which may be true to the high school situation but is to something I would expect teenagers to realize). Also, Leah was just better in the movie, except for one thing (though her having a crush on Simon in the movie worked, but it wasn’t necessary). I don’t like the whole dynamic between Leah and Abby in the book. It seemed pointless.

I’ll have to see how I feel about Leah in her book, but I figure she’ll be a more developed character, as it often felt like she was shoved to the sidelines in the main narrative of Simon’s story. I do however think that both handled the fallout with Simon’s friends from Martin’s blackmailing, differently, but equally well.

Creeksecrets. This one simply comes down to mechanics. But I can’t fathom how Creeksecrets works as a Tumblr in the book. Like, Tumblr doesn’t function in a way that anyone can just post to a random tumblr page. It has to go through a moderator before it could ever be posted. Martin could not just randomly post his thing outing Simon without at least one other person being complicit in it (and then go back and later delete his own post). I don’t know how it’s supposed to function in the movie, but I imagined something more like the Whisper app. Which makes more sense. Though I will say I do like how it’s not as BIG of a deal in the book. Like it’s a big deal to Simon, but it’s not like everyone in the school immediately knows everything that happens on Creeksecrets cuz they’re all just constantly tuned to it. That treatment, at least, seems more real than how the movie does it.

Things I liked better in the book.

The relationship between Blue and Simon (both pre- and post-reveal). This simply worked better in EVERY WAY in the book. And it comes down to the book’s focus. The book has less focus on the politics of coming out than the movie. Because it has the freedom to be less focused. So it doesn’t have to grant as much focus to the things I mention above. Instead, it can be this gorgeous, funny love story between two boys.

I didn’t realize it initially watching the movie because i hadn’t read the book. But Blue is actually largely sidelined (while also not being, it’s weird) in the movie. Like who Blue is is still very much a focus of the movie. But we don’t actually get to know him very much? They do attempt to balance this out a bit more by developing who Blue is a bit more than he is before being revealed in the book. But you can miss that if you don’t know who Blue is.

And we get so much more of Blue (and by extension who he is) in the book. Since we see so much more of their emails in the book. And it works. And I love that it works. It foregrounds the love story. Two boys just falling in love. Which is it’s own statement. Perhaps a less bold one than is ultimately shown in the movie. But just as important in the end.

How this wasn’t a THE whole school new everything type story. This is entirely the fault of Hollywood and how it approaches high school. But I do like that while Simon’s whole world was being shook. And the school was certainly gossiping, it wasn’t like everyone was tuned into Simon’s life. And that Blue’s reveal was private and just for them. The whole declaration with the ferris wheel and everyone deserving a great love story. That’s gorgeous in it’s own right. But it felt more special in the book for it to be just between them.

The presence of more queer characters. This is simple. But it’s important to mention. In the movie there are arguably three present queer characters and a fourth mentioned. And there all gay men. The book doesn’t have too many more in physical presence, but more are mentioned and I’d say some even implied. But their presence is larger and there is more variety. Do I wish both had a little more? Yes. But the book handled this better. Easy.

Things that I liked about equal but deserve discussing.

Martin, how he blackmails Simon and the particular nature of him outing Simon. There’s a few differences but this functions over all largely the same in the book and movie. However, I feel like Martin’s character is important to discuss. From what I can tell people revile him. And I get that, I do. The guy’s a dick. A colossal dick. But, here’s the thing, I don’t think he’s ever deliberately malicious. Like, he’s selfish and his actions are very much all about serving himself. But I do genuinely believe he had no clue how harmful his actions are. Which makes him all the more important as a character. It’s the same as Simon’s dad’s jokes. It’s putting a spotlight on even when you don’t mean to be harmful, you can still be. And guess what the people you’re hurting are still allowed to be mad at and hate you for it. Like. I love that in both the book and movie, Simon doesn’t forgive Martin. Simon shouldn’t forgive Martin. But both do a good job of showing that Martin has at least learned to be slightly more considerate through this experience.

It isn’t a redemption arc, but it is an educating arc. It teaches people that when you hurt somebody. It doesn’t matter how much you try to make amends. You still hurt them, and they’re in no way obligated to forgive you.

And maybe this comes a little bit from me being 27 and watching a movie and reading a book about high schoolers. But I do fully believe Martin could learn and could learn and grow as a person to be an amazing ally. And that this could be the beginning of his journey.

Doesn’t stop him from being a colossal dick. But that potential is there. And it’s important that it is. Because people, with a little effort, can learn. And we can all learn to be better allies and more understanding of others. (Which is actually part of Simon’s journey too, which makes the fact that it’s part of Martin’s journey more important).

~

Overall, I really enjoyed both the book and the movie. The movie is so important and I don’t think I need to fully touch on that. There’s plenty of people already doing that already. It’s a movie we deserved years ago, and I’m so glad we’re finally getting it. And i hope it’s just the beginning of many more movies like it to come.

Also, I feel this is one situation where I really enjoy the fact that the book and the movie take different approaches to the same narrative. It allows each to serve it’s own purpose and goals, and still tell wonderful, happy stories. There are a few changes the movie made that are a bit unnecessary (the inclusion of the vice principal even though he’s a funny character, deleting Alice,  and the entire Halloween sequence). And there’s small changes in it made that make sense mainly because they served to reduce complexity. But most of the major changes they made were educated decisions. Designed to highlight different parts of topics discussed in the books. Very rarely did the changes feel like they were changed just because. They were thoughtful and insightful in those changes. And it shows the care put into the movie.

But both are really well made and really fun and enjoyable and important. It’s good that both of them exist. And I’d highly recommend that anyone who hasn’t read the book but enjoyed the movie to read the book. It’s a quick read (I read it in about three hours all told). And it’s worth it. If only because Blue is utterly adorable and I don’t think they captured that enough in the movie.